He's only 22 years old, but Tauranga's Sam Matheson hopes be our next sporting superstar.

He's already made waves in America, and his success there has absolutely cemented his ambition.

He first picked up a racket at eight years old, and knew he wanted to be a professional player when he played a preview to the Heineken Open at the tender age of 12.

Studying through the New Zealand Correspondence School allowed Sam to train regularly with coaches Justin Megraw and Peter Blow.

Recently he's been studying in the United States at Liberty Christian University.

'I was honoured to be captain of the Flames Tennis Team, which is part of the Big South Conference. It was a great opportunity and while I was there I did everything I could to improve.

'I learned to travel, got the opportunity to play many different types of players, and had coaches that supported me, helping me to grow on and off the court,” says Sam.

He's been awarded Big South Player of the Year, and is the first player from Liberty to be ranked, with a national pre-season ranking of 62.

Sam is back living in Tauranga now, and knows he will have to work hard and manage his time in order to compete on the world stage. His ultimate goal is to represent New Zealand in Grand Slams, get a high world ranking, play the Davis Cup and travel the world.

'The most important advice when starting out is to work hard when you are young, in both tennis and study,” says Sam. 'That was [tennis pro] David Ferrer's advice to me, and it's stuck with me ever since.”